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Raw Tape / Re: Ampex 632 Recording Tape

« on: December 10, 2007, 11:08:28 PM »

Sorry I am new to this thread, my name is Aaron Smith, close enough I guess to my user name, I actually use that username also for Ebay, who could figure?

And Thank You very much indeed, for all that up to date information and I will definitely use that and now both support and buy "a load" of that new spankin' fresh' tape.

If I may ask, what is the difference in quality of the Emtec sm468 tape verses the sm911 tape?
I think it is records less hot, than say the Emtec sm911 ? But I am not too sure of that.

What are the advantages of sm468 verses other reel tape?

And do they still sell it? and where? What I mean is, I checked usrecordingmedia.com and they only have sm468 tape now in 1/2" wide tape and not in 1/4" or other sizes. I only guess from what I saw on their website.

Does my machine have to be re-calibrated to the sm468 if I am already using the Quantegy 456 or Emtec sm911 reel tape and or what tape is this closest to in bias?

Sorry that is probably way too many questions and off topic in this thread..........but I am still curious.

I  know that Emtec sm468 is a hotter ("hotter" meaning recording a higher level to tape) recording tape than say the Ampex 632 tape right?

See, I got back on topic, atleast I tried.............

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Raw Tape / Re: Ampex 632 Recording Tape

« on: December 10, 2007, 02:45:13 PM »

Yes, to answer your question, it is excellent tape to record on and better than most Ampex tape because it does not have the sticky shed problems and it is basically rated as low noise high output tape 1.5 mil thick duplicating tape for mastering/recording.

It is far better than even Ampex 641, 631 tape and is not considered just voice quality but rather Ampex 632 tape is considered for duplicating purposes so you can record music etc with lower back ground noise and a higher output.

It is a lower recording bias level tape though than say Ampex 456, less hot on the recording level by almost half, but it is much cheaper to buy and will last much longer than the other Ampex tape 456, 499, 406, 407 and no falling apart sticky goo useless syndrome (not even good enough for the trash can) issues unless it was stored in water???

Of course not all those Ampex tapes mentioned above will go bad, it is just hit and miss.

Of course Ampex 631, 641 are also very good reel tapes, has just a little more noise, but also does not have the sticky shed problems either. I wanted to make that clear. Ampex 499, 456, 457 may or may not have sticky shed problems depending on what year they were made.

Allot of older reel tape(all makes and models) is actually made much better and last much longer in storage conditions than the newer made Ampex/Quantegy tape.

But there are no guarantees on reel tape and even the Quantegy brand, so try them all out and experiment, because, we now have no alternative to buying new reel tape, thanks to Quantegy and other companies Emtec etc are out of business now.

I guess we all did not support them enough and buy enough reel tape for them to stay in business???

And too the recording studios changed to Hard drives and other recording mediums as well and tape had become and is still too expensive for the recording time that you get on one reel tape.

Have you seen prices on 1" and 2" reel tape absolutely outrageous, but it sounds absolutely Glorious though and better than any digital format now or in the future period!!!!!!!

Of course you have to set bias for your reel to reel machine and eq settings for Ampex 632, also note: that most older Teac machines and others older 1970 and up r to r machines are pretty closely biased to this tape anyways. As you would bias for any other model of tape out there, for the most optimum recording quality, hottest signal possible and the highest frequency response output on playback that your deck is capable of, so push the limits baby, cause' it sounds so good, oh yeay'.

I hope this helps you and others figure out that we are stuck without fresh new virgin made reel tape, because every company out there, well just the last one that was still alive, Quantegy has died out and has shut there doors and are not producing any more reel audio tapes, unless of course Europe is still making reel tapes?

Anybody know if any company out there in the world is still making reel to reel tapes anymore?

Anyone???